23 August 2005

Second Verse, Same as the First?

Did they learn nothing from last month's highly-illuminating discussion between Evan Brown and myself concerning the lack of a "Windows Vista" trademark application by Microsoft? Amongst several others, the Wall Street Journal Online [$ubscription required] and MAKE:Blog report that Google will roll-out an IM service tomorrow; the service will be located at talk.google.com and will be driven by XML-based open source messaging software from Jabber.

I for one welcome our new instant messaging overlords, but humbly point out that they have apparently neglected, like Microsoft before them, to file a trademark registration for their new IM brand, which will presumably be some variant of "Talk" -- for instance, "Google Talk" or "Gtalk". A search of the Patent and Trademark Office's TESS trademark search system turns up 34 trademarks and applications, including both living and dead marks, but none are related to the new "Talk" service.

By the way, according to TESS, Microsoft now has five "Windows Vista" trademark applications pending; all were filed the same day Evan and I first posted our respective missives --we get results!

Unsilent Partners

About Me

I am presently corporate counsel for Accela, Inc., a software company headquartered in San Ramon, California and am a member of both the Oregon and California State Bars. More detailed professional information is available at my LinkedIn profile.

I have been blogging at Infamy or Praise since early 2005. From 2006 to 2009, I served as a "Sherpa" at Blawg Review, the weekly carnival of legal blogging; I have also hosted (or co-hosted) six editions of Blawg Review, the first four of which were awarded a "Blawg Review of the Year" award. I formerly was a co-blogger at Unsilent Partners. I'm on Twitter as "colinsamuels".

I am the author of "Humanizing the Profession: Lawyers Find Their Public Voices Through Blogging" (11 Nexus L. J. 89 (2006)) and a contributing author to "Blogging and Other Social Media" (Gower Publishing Limited, 2008) and "Legal Profession: Modern Approach" (The Icfai University Press, 2008).

None of the foregoing blogging, tweeting, or personal writing necessarily represents the views of my employer; responsibility for these is entirely mine.